Finding happiness can be difficult. Many people spend their entire lives searching for the things that make them happy.
We try money, fame, and buying more things. But often times finding happiness is simpler than that.
Finding happiness through the simple things in life is key to truly being happy in your life. Quite frankly, there are very few things in life that really mean a lot to us. Each of us can probably count on one hand the things that mean the most.
This shortlist really defines what is important to us. If you were to die tomorrow, your family and friends would spend months grieving.
However, within two weeks your company would have a new job posting available. Do not mix up the things that are important in life.
Why Do We Struggle?
Have you ever thought about why so many people spend decades trying to find happiness? Have you ever considered that we might be looking in the wrong places? All of us want to be happy and we all can!
But first, we have to start looking in the proper places. Many of us try to be happy by buying more things.
We think a new car will make us happy, until we get the first scratch. We think a new toy might bring us joy, but the instant gratification quickly fades.
Generations have tried to fill the void of finding happiness through buying different things. However, in recent years there has been a movement towards people paying for “experiences” rather than buying “things”.
The simplicity in this is that you will always have memories, but material things will break and go out of style. Experiences will last a lifetime, but that new piece of jewelry could get lost or stolen.
Although this movement brings us closer to finding happiness, there is still a gap. Antidepressants and the need for therapy is at an all time high. There has to be something bigger that we are all in need of.
Finding Happiness Through Service – The Real Secret
While experiences are better than things, we can take this one step further. Finding happiness is actually relatively simple. Spending your time in a way that is helping others will always make you happy.
Have you ever volunteered at a soup kitchen? Ever helped your kids learn something for the first time? Have you ever given back to a homeless person on the street?
I want you to think for a second how are you felt when you did these things. Helping others is the easiest way to start to find happiness.
If you’re ever feeling sad, if you are ever down in the dumps, take a minute to brush yourself off and go help somebody. It is human nature to try to help others. Furthermore, by doing this you can guarantee you will feel better.
It is said that you cannot feel sadness while also feeling gratitude. Finding happiness is about chasing a feeling of gratitude.
When we feel grateful, we feel happy. The simplest way to do this is to help others.
Finding Happiness – Putting it Into Practice
Now, you do not need to go and become the next Mother Theresa in order to feel happy. Finding happiness isn’t about giving up everything you have, living on the streets, and spending all of your time giving back. There are many different ways for you to find this feeling and ways for you to help others.
Start to think about the areas of your life where you interact with others. This could be your children, your coworkers, your spouse, or even a random person on the street. Each and every day we have the opportunity to help them.
You can help your children learn a life lesson. Helping to onboard a new coworker is another way to find happiness through service.
Helping your spouse out with dinner is a great way to do something nice. Buying a meal for someone who is down on their luck and out on the streets is a great way to give back.
Helping others doesn’t mean completely changing their lives. You don’t have to give away thousands of dollars or spend every single moment focusing on doing an honorable deed. The smallest acts often times me in the most.
Our everyday, seemingly meaningless decisions can be the ones that make the biggest impact. You see, finding happiness is about doing the little things right and trying to put a smile on the face of others.
We can do that all while being successful in our careers, prioritizing our own time, and also being there for the people who need us most.
Not Always Easy, But Worth It
Trying to put others first isn’t always easy. Doing the right thing is often times very hard. However, it is always worth it.
Taking the time to truly be of service to others can make a world of a difference. Not only are you going to help somebody else, but you will also feel good about it!
The crazy part about helping others is that by giving ourselves up to be of service, ends up with us finding happiness. We can try all of the tricks in the world. We can try to satisfy our deep human desire with superficial things. But, these will never work.
We must continue to be true to our nature. By design we are communal creatures.
We thrive as humans when we work together to take care of each other. This is what we were designed to do. Our genetic make up thrives when we can help out of fellow neighbor.
Do not deny yourself from this feeling! There is no better feeling in the world than doing something good for somebody else, and seeing them smile.
Take some time to think about where you can step in and help others. If you were struggling finding happiness, maybe it is time to look towards helping others. Because service is the quickest way to putting a smile on your face.
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